Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Mike and his mom


Yesterday was a tough one. Leaving for the afternoon is not always an easy thing for our children. For many of them, church is the only safe place they can run to and count on. Some of them have no consistency in their lives and very little positive relationships to turn to. For Mike, reading camp has been his safe haven over the past couple weeks.

As we were leaving on our van routes, all 15 kids were loaded and ready to go...except for one. Mike didn't want to get on. In fact, he refused to get on. First he wouldn't put his shoes on because there was a little glitter in them. Then he started getting fired up about a little glue and glitter that had gotten on his shirt.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out why this was such a big deal (and it wasn't about being OCD or anythng) he began to cry. Tears began falling as we coaxed him toward the van. A few feet futher, he planted himself on the ground and started balling. I talked to him for a bit, and figured out that he was not going to go home with anything that caused his clothes to appear dirty.

"My mom told me that I would be in big trouble if I get my clothes dirty." We cleaned the little guy up. The glitter was gone, and there wasn't a remnant of anything dirty. This still didn't satisfy Mike's peace of mind. I promised to talk to his mom and that it would be ok. He cried all the way home.

"Are you Mike's mom?"... "Yes, what did he do!?" I spoke with his mom and told her what a great kid she has. I told her she should be proud of him because he does such a great job and is such a bright little dude.

How scary it must be to go home in fear of loved ones. How do 8 year olds endure such hardship and trials of abuse? Surely God has provided these little ones with a faith and hope that goes much farther than this world. They are already stronger than I might ever be to keep moving on each day. Pray for Mike. Pray for the infinite amount of nameless others without a hope.

Here's a picture from last Friday. I took SeDarious, Paul, and DeAngelo out to Kemah to eat some lunch and ride some rides. We had a blast.

2 comments:

Cris said...

thank you for sharing this. it reminds me of so many of the girls in my FROGS class from highland...made me miss them and say a special prayer for them as well as mike. you're doing great work, jt. may the LORD continue to bless you as you serve His kingdom the best way you know how! miss you!

Wes and Ellen said...

Jeremy,

I am praying for Mike this morning and for the others like him in Houston that you have a chance to influence and love.

You are an inspiration.

-Wes